Eddie Hearn has recently announced his most overrated boxer of all time, and it may surprise fans given potential future plans.
Eddie Hearn has been around boxing since he was a child. With his boxing empire passed down to him from his father, Barry, Hearn has seen many fighters come and go and has recently spoken on who he feels is underrated, and, who he thinks is overrated.
Hearn suggested certain greats never got the respect they deserved such as Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor, and even suggested Gennadiy Golovkin being from Kazakhstan played a part in him not getting the flowers he might’ve got if he were American or British.
When it came to the most overrated fighter, Hearn was confident in his pick.
Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty ImagesEddie Hearn names Deontay Wilder as the most overrated boxer of all time
In the ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ podcast with Jermaine Jenas and Derek Chisora, Hearn was asked about the most under and overrated boxers in the sport.
After naming his picks for underrated, Hearn initially struggled with the latter picks, and initially questioned Tyson Fury‘s resume, which harbours few wins of note despite the elite skillset of ‘The Gypsy King’.
He then, however, landed on one name: “Probably the most overrated fighter of all time – Deontay Wilder. Who did he beat? Luis Ortiz at 40 years old, that’s it. That’s the best win of his career.”
Hearn isn’t wrong to make this comment, as Ortiz is Wilder’s best win, having lost to Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, and Zhilei Zhang.
Wilder’s career has been heavily criticized for its lack of credible opponents, and leads many to believe he was never the fighter many thought he was based off of his draw with Fury.
Deontay Wilder didn’t face a top 100 fighter until his 29th fight
Hearn is right to criticize Wilder, who split from Malik Scott, as a closer look at his resume reveals a host of Wilder’s lackluster opponents.
Facing lesser opposition is forgivable early in a fighter’s career, but Wilder seemed to never get the memo regarding a step-up, and faced just one fighter ranked in the top 100 in his first 30 fights.
Photo by Harry How/Golden Boy/Golden Boy/Getty Images
That man was Siarhei Liakhovich, who was a natural cruiserweight past his prime.
In his first 39 fights, Wilder faced just one fighter in the top 20, and that was one of the weakest heavyweight champions boxing has ever seen – Bermane Stiverne, who broke Wilder’s KO streak. Stiverne won the title after defeating Chris Arreola.
Wilder has since faced talented opposition, and come up short every time.